4. Dec. 12, 1965 Gale Sayers Returns A Punt 85 Yards For A Touchdown, Capping A Performance That Included 6 Touchdowns, And The Bears

Crush The 49ers 61-20 At Muddy Wrigley Field

November 01, 1987|By Sam Smith.

The sky was gray that day-a dirty, ugly kind of gray. Dismal gray. And rainy, off and on. Drizzle, then downpour. All day. It was mild, especially for December, temperatures in the mid-50s, but so muddy and dingy that you`d almost rather it were snowing. It was the kind of day the psychiatrists say produces a higher rate of suicides.

The San Francisco 49ers were dying a slow death that afternoon in Wrigley Field.

``I was never involved in anything like that before or since,`` recalls former 49ers defensive tackle Charlie Krueger.

The score was now 54-20. Bears. The 49ers had been slogging around in front of 46,278 Bears fans for almost 3 hours and it was still not over. The Bears were driving for still another touchdown. Time out first, though.

In the 49ers` defensive huddle, Matt Hazeltine was in a rage. His uniform number had long since been obliterated and his face was caked with globs of mud, the brown droplets splashing into his eyes almost every time he moved from the puddles on the sodden field. His teammates were in a loose circle around him, but he was looking over their heads toward the sideline, at the coaches, screaming.

It seems that the 49er braintrust had come up with this plan-a new deal if you will-with, as it turned out, much less effect than the New Deal proposed by the original braintrusters of President Franklin Roosevelt.

``The Bears really didn`t have a passing offense then,`` recalls 49ers defensive end Clark Miller-even though Bear quarterback Rudy Buckich led the National Football League that year in passing. ``You knew what their strength on offense was. They were going to try to run and, by this game, we knew who was going to be running.``

Gale Sayers.

The rookie halfback from Kansas played little in his first game of the season, in which the 49ers walloped the Bears 52-24. But since then, he had scored four touchdowns in a game against Minnesota, ran a kickoff back 96 yards, scored on runs from scrimmage of 55 and 62 yards and on passes of 65 and 70 yards.

``All week the coaches were muttering, `Sayers, Sayers,` `` recalls Krueger. ``So they put in what we called the `Chicago defense.` ``

Simply, it was an all-out effort to stop the incredible rookie. Responsibilities were changed on the defensive line and in the secondary. The pass defense was almost forgotten as plans were put in place to have defenders doubling almost every Bear blocker and others filling running openings.

Which was why Hazeltine was so upset. And why 49ers coach Jack Christiansen declined to talk to any writers after the game,

uncharacteristically brushing past the media without a word.

The 49ers devoted their game plan to stopping Sayers, and he already had six touchdowns with, what turned out, a chance to score two more.

So there was Hazeltine, with the crowd chanting ``Sayers, Sayers, Sayers,`` drowning out his invective toward the coaching staff:

About a half-hour later, it was over. Sayers had tied Ernie Nevers and Dub Jones for the most touchdowns in a game with six. Oddly, both Nevers and Jones had scored their half-dozen against Bears teams. Sayers carried the ball just 9 times from scrimmage for 113 yards, scoring touchdowns on 4 of those carries in addition to 89 yards on 2 pass receptions and 134 yards on punt returns for 336 for the game.

Reserve halfback Jon Arnett made the final score 61-20 with a short touchdown run late in the game, and then Sayers returned for what would be the last play, catching a punt at the Bears` 19-yard line and returning it to midfield, where he slipped and fell as he was about to break free for a touchdown.

``Funny, it was the first time I`d slipped all day,`` recalls Sayers. ``I had an opening when I did, and I probably could have scored.``

So there was Y.A. Tittle in the 49ers` dressing room after the game, trying to explain what had happened in Christiansen`s hastily arranged absence. Tittle was now a 49er assistant coach, but despite his long, glorious career, he was dumbfounded about what he`d seen. Especially because of the 49ers` pregame plan he`d helped develop.

Tittle`s bald head shone in the lights, and he ran a hand across it. Finally he said:

``I just wonder how many Sayers would have scored if we hadn`t set our defense to stop him.``

Indeed, he should have had at least seven, and the all-time record, although one will never get the gentlemanly Sayers to say that.

``I was just happy we were winning with ease,`` Sayers recalls about that historic effort. ``The coaches just said Arnett was going in. Back then, there wasn`t a whole lot of emphasis on records. If you get one, fine. If not, that`s the way it goes. Not like today, where they`re calling down when you need two more yards for this or one more catch for that.